Memorial’s Moll helps USA continue Junior Ryder Cup streak

By Jack Marrion, Staff writer

Published
2:37 pm CDT, Monday, October 1, 2018

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 26: William Moll of Team USA tees off during the Junior Ryder Cup GolfSixes ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 26, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 26: William Moll of Team USA tees off during the Junior Ryder Cup GolfSixes ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 26, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 26: William Moll of Team USA tees off during the Junior Ryder Cup GolfSixes ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 26, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 26: William Moll of Team USA tees off during the Junior Ryder Cup GolfSixes ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 26, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie

Team USA won its sixth consecutive Junior Ryder Cup against Europe, prevailing 12 ½ to 11 ½ with the help of a Memorial High School senior Sept. 24-25 at Golf Disneyland in Paris.

William Moll won twice in four-ball competition to help the United States to a 7 ½ to 4 ½ lead after the opening round. He teamed with Cole Ponich for a 2-up victory and with Rachel Heck for a 2-and-1 win. He narrowly lost his singles match, decided on the final hole, but the early lead was enough for Team USA.

Moll continued an impressive calendar year that included leading the Mustangs to a third-place finish at the UIL state tournament this past spring. He finished sixth at state individually, carding rounds of 69 and 71 for a 140.

Moll led the 2018 Texas Amateur Championship in June before finishing fifth with a four-round score of 289, finishing one over par. He opened with consecutive rounds of 69 and held a two-stroke advantage entering the final round.

Moll, committed to Vanderbilt University, challenged for a state championship as a sophomore, finishing as UIL runner-up while leading Memorial to a seventh-place finish.

WESTSIDE FLAWLESS THROUGH FIRST HALF

The Westside volleyball team earned its sixth sweep in seven District 18-6A matches Sept. 28, defeating Heights 25-13, 25-9, 25-9 to complete a perfect first half of league action.

The Wolves improved to 22-4 overall, 7-0 in district play. The only team to take a set from the Wolves was four-time defending district champion Bellaire in a five-set thriller Sept. 12. Bellaire stands second after seven matches, followed by Carnegie Vanguard and Lamar for the four playoff positions.

Westside begins the second round Oct. 2 against Lamar and follows with an Oct. 6 match against Sam Houston. The rematch with Bellaire is set for Oct. 10 at Butler Field House.

LAMAR, EPISCOPAL LEAD AT HOUSTON CHRISTIAN

The Lamar boys and the Episcopal girls took home the team titles from Houston Christian’s Dave Jantzen Invitational. The Texans challenged for a perfect score with 19 points as champion Will Moore-Jones (1st, 17:28.24), Camilo Meisel (2nd, 17:28.50), Bryce Cox (3rd, 17:38.00), William Stone (6th, 18:22.00) and Alex Ortiz (7th, 18:23.41) scored.

Lucy Holden and Kyla Shy of HCYA finished second and third in the girls race, with individual leaders including Lauren Kearns (5th, 21:53.37) and Hannah Fritsche (6th, 22:47.93) of Houston Christian and Lamar’s Sofia Diaz (10th, 24:42.26).

The Stratford and Memorial girls cross country teams both challenged for out-of-town meet championships during the week ending Sept. 22. Stratford finished fourth out of 75 teams at the Chili Pepper Festival in Arkansas, while Memorial was the runner-up at the Texas A&M Invitational.

The Mustangs produced a solid finish in the boys standings as well, placing 11th of 25 teams. Their scoring runners were William Jackson (28th, 17:28.20), John Morico (36th, 17:39.20), Connor Davis (71st, 18:14.50), Benjamin Sarenas (93rd, 18:27.20) and Max French (106th, 18:38.90).

Spring Woods was led in College Station by Catrina Pardo (31st, 21:18.00), Vaniah Barrera (40th, 21:40.80) and Brittnie Balbuena (81st, 22:54.40) in the girls race. The Tigers were paced by Ashton Allen (67th, 18:12.20), Daniel Arredondo (70th, 18:14.00) and Jimmy Guajardo (87th, 18:24.30) in the boys division.

Stratford’s Grace Custer was the runner-up in Arkansas with a time of 18:30.90, leading an impressive scoring pack of Fay Gibb (13th, 19:16.30), Jana Mahlich (18th, 19:27.70), Hope Sage (56th, 20:09.10) and Ella Gibb (85th, 20:35.50). The top high school girls race featured more than 500 runners.